Top-Seeded Mater Dei Turns It Up in Fourth Quarter to Advance

The first time Mater Dei and Edison battled this season, the Chargers kept the game close for three quarters.

Saturday night, the Monarchs relied on the same script, scoring 16 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to blow away Edison, 60-43, in a girls’ Southern Section Division I-A semifinal game in front of 2,000 at Huntington Beach High.

Mater Dei, top-seeded in the division, will play second-seeded Ventura Buena (27-1) in the championship game at the Pyramid.

“They’re just a better team than us,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “We needed to play a perfect game. We didn’t rebound or shoot very well and we were still in the game [in the second half].”

The Chargers built a 10-4 lead in the first quarter, with Mater Dei star Melody Peterson on the bench for disciplinary reasons. Peterson entered the game with three minutes left in the quarter and sparked a 7-0 Monarch run that gave Mater Dei the lead.

Edison hung tough, trailing by two, 28-26, at the half and tying it, 34-34, in the third quarter. Mater Dei then led by three, 44-41, after Marie Philman scored from the right side with 7:30 left. That was as good as it got for the Chargers, however, who saw the Monarchs score 16 consecutive points over the next three minutes. During that span, Edison’s three leading scorers each picked up their fourth foul, and White was assessed with a technical.

“I think it was just a matter of defensive intensity in the second half,” Mater Dei coach Mary Hauser said. “We forced them to make mistakes and we were able to take advantage.” Peterson, who has committed to Stanford, had nine of her 16 points during the final-quarter run. Rhonda Gondringer scored 22 points to lead the Monarchs, who won their 23rd consecutive game as they advanced to the final for the third season in a row.

Philman, despite making only eight of 24 field goals, led Edison with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Philman, a senior forward headed for UCLA, finished her prep career with 2,185 points, the fourth-best total in county history.